Entertainment Comedy

In Five Minutes to Kill, actor and comedian Fred Stoller tells the story of the Young Comedians Special in 1989. He and five other talented, then-unknown comics took the stage with the hopes that their five-minute sets would propel them to fame and fortune. Some, like David Spade and Rob Schneider, hit it big; others didn’t. By turns hilarious and heart-wrenching, Five Minutes to Kill is the bittersweet story of what happened to six of America’s funniest people after their first big breaks.

Nothing escaped the eye of the satirical eye of Britain's phenomenally successful all-Asian sketch show that was Goodness Gracious Me. The complete BBC Radio series 1-3 fore-ran the award-winning BBC TV series that ran in the late 1990s, and features the same cast. Prepare for your heart to pound in the Indian recreation of Brief Encounter, sing along to the profound words of wisdom with Fifty Ways to Leave your Mother, and enjoy pop classics such as Hindi People and Punjabi Girl.

Award-Winning Finalist in the Narrative: Non-Fiction category of the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book FestIn 1988, a young, mid-level employee named Art Bell pitched a novel concept - a television channel focused 100 percent on just one thing: Comedy - to the chairman of HBO. The station that would soon become Comedy Central, with celebrated programs like South Park, Chapelle’s Show, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report, was born.

Morecambe and Wise - the most famous and best-loved British comedy double-act of all time. In this unique book, Eric Morecambe's son Gary sheds new light on the comic geniuses who became the nation's best friends. Gary reveals what it was like behind the scenes, with touching and hilarious stories of life in the Morecambe and Wise family homes, along with memories from Eric's wife Joan and his daughter (and Ernie's goddaughter) Gail, who has never written about her father before.

Comedy of Doom is a collection of essays, parodies, and true stories covering every major topic in geek culture. Including smart, funny takes on video games, Star Wars, vampires, Doctor Who, Jane Austen, a complete guide to emotional preparation for the zombie apocalypse, instructions for the new sport called Competitive Hugging, and more.

In this audiobook, Simon Louvish traces the early lives of Stanley Jefferson and Norvell Hardy and the surrounding minstrel and variety theater, which influenced all of their later work. Louvish examines the rarely seen solo films of both our heroes, prior to their serendipitous pairing in 1927, in the long-lost short Duck Soup. The inspired casting teamed them until their last days. Both often married, they found balancing their personal and professional lives a nearly impossible feat.

In It's Only a Movie, the incomparable Mark Kermode took us into the weird world of a film critic's life lived in widescreen. Now, The Good, The Bad and the Multiplex takes us into the belly of the beast to ask: 'What’s wrong with the modern movie business – and how can we make it right?'

We've all heard that you learn more from failure than you do from success. Which means that all those hours spent watching crappy movies wasn't a waste of your precious and ever-dwindling life span; it was an education! And Better Living Through Bad Movies can show you how to extract the profound, life-affirming lessons from films like Battlefield Earth, Coyote Ugly, and Indecent Proposal.

A hilarious window into the world of comedian and social-media star Arron Crascall, as he embarks on a life-changing journey of discovering what truly makes him happy. In the same vein as his favourite TV show, The Wonder Years, old Arron (full of See Ya Later wisdom) meets young 13-year-old Arron and tackles all the big stuff. As he revisits some of the key moments in his life, Arron will give his young self some words of wisdom on how to navigate the big issue of being a contented and fulfilled grown-up.

Over the course of a year, award-winning comedian Rachel Parris asked members of her live audience for advice. Here she takes those random bits of wisdom - such as 'Be Kind' or 'Never Pass Up the Opportunity for a Wee' - and explores them in ways that are funny and serious, hilarious and heartbreaking. This uplifting feminist manifesto of a book outlines the essentials of living in the modern world; dealing with everything from tampons to Tories and from #hashtags to staying hydrated.

This is no ordinary celebrity biography pieced together by an outsider. Steve Martin and author Morris Walker had a close relationship growing up. They were class clowns together, charming the girls and the teachers with their wit, and eventually going on the road as comedians. This personal account will introduce you to the Steve Martin you've never seen before.

El artista Ricky Martin quien ha vendido mas de 60 millones de albumes en todo el mundo habla por primera vez sobre su infancia, sus comienzos musicales en el grupo Menudo, su busqueda de identidad durante el fenomeno de "Livin La Vida Loca", la aceptacion de su sexualidad, las relaciones en las que descubrio el amor y las decisiones que cambiaron su vida como el convertirse en padre y su dedicacion por ayudar a los ninos des privilegiados en todo el mundo.

Never before have so many women dominated their industry and pop culture itself with such creativity, passion, and force. Visionary and ferociously talented, these women are reshaping our society and our lives. In this stunningly designed compendium, Jennifer Armstrong offers an intimate, up-close look at 40 of pop music’s most revered goddesses, analyzing their performances, songs, videos, interviews, social media, activism, and personal lives to illuminate their significance for both critics and fans.

On December 22, 1953, Mort Sahl took the stage at San Francisco's hungry i and changed comedy forever. Before him, standup was about everything but hard news and politics. In his wake, a new generation of smart comics emerged - Shelley Berman, Mike Nichols, and Elaine May, Lenny Bruce, Bob Newhart, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen, and the Smothers Brothers, among others.

In all my years of reporting on the human condition, this has to be the most bizarre, and (if true) history shattering interviews I've ever conducted. This story is told by Billy "Big Rig", a pseudonymous truck driver I met over sausage gravy and biscuits in the late 1990s when I was driving a truck to make ends meet. We struck up a friendship, although I think I maybe spoke 10 words to him the whole time I knew him. He did most of the talking. And the way he spun a yarn caused me to be transfixed.

Mit genügend Humor wird alles leichter. Bastian Bielendorfer dokumentiert deshalb vom ersten Tag an, durch welche Absurditäten sich unser Leben seit dem Beginn des Corona-Wahnsinns verändert hat. Innerhalb weniger Stunden wird die Hausärztin zur Seuchenexpertin, der Postbote zum Hochrisikoarbeiter. Und Bastis Zuhause mutiert zur Zwangs-WG mit Frau, Mops und Schwiegermutter. Nach ein paar Tagen im Hausarrest erklärt Basti der Corona-Angst den Krieg und beginnt mit seinen schriftstellerischen Aufräumarbeiten in einer Welt, die nie wieder so sein wird wie zuvor.

Social media comedian Heather Land uses her trademark sassy, laugh-out-loud humor to remind us of the many ways that real life can be really funny. Heather Land has something to say about almost everything in life - the unbelievable, inconceivable, and downright frustrating - and why she “ain’t doin’ it.” In her first book, Heather shines a light on the (occasional) ridiculousness of life through a series of hilarious essays, dishing on everything from Walmart and ex-husbands to Southern beauty pageants and unfortunate trips to the gynecologist.

When you take the most absurd parts of history, science, economics, and geography, you end up with a pretty confusing picture of humanity. Why do we have borders? What's the furthest you can get from the ocean? And why did Vikings wear those silly helmets? These are just a few of the strange questions that bounce around the head of Joseph Pisenti. In his YouTube channel, Pisenti presents illogical truths in a logical manner. Here, he builds on this nonsensical humor of the universe with in-depth analysis of empires, economies, and ecosystems as he helps answer the ridiculous.

Mark Twain's lifetime spans America's era of greatest economic growth. And Twain was an active, even giddy, participant in all the great booms and busts of his time, launching himself into one harebrained get-rich-quick scheme after another. But far from striking it rich, the man who coined the term "Gilded Age" failed with comical regularity to join the ranks of plutocrats who made this period in America notorious for its wealth and excess.

A. E. Hotchner first met Paul Newman in 1955 when the virtually unknown actor assumed the lead role in Hotchner’s first television play, based on an Ernest Hemingway story. The project elevated both men from relative obscurity to recognition and began a close and trusted friendship that lasted until Newman’s death in 2008.